Apparatus for producing ozone gas for beauty treatment

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for producing ozone gas for use in the beauty treatment of skin, comprising a sealed vessel ( 1 ) containing a gas and means for supplying to the vessel a potential difference ( 9 ), thereby causing the gas to become charged, whereby placing the vessel close to the skin of a user causes the charged gas to discharge by creating an electrical spark which jumps between the vessel and the skin, the spark resulting in the production of ozone gas in the vicinity of the skin, wherein the apparatus additionally comprises a guard ( 1   a ) for the vessel to protect the vessel from breakage, the guard having apertures therein to permit the vessel to discharge to the skin of the user.

[0001] The present invention relates to apparatus for producing ozonegas for use in the beauty treatment of skin, and in particular toapparatus which can be used to treat skin blemishes.

[0002] Skin blemishes can be treated by applying ozone gas to the skin.One method of producing ozone is by discharging a charged object closeto the skin. This generates electrical sparks which ionise the oxygen inthe vicinity of the skin, thereby producing ozone gas.

[0003] U.S. Pat. No. 5,866,082 (Omega 5 Technologies Inc.) discloses ahand-held ozone-producing apparatus having a glass bulb filled with aninert gas such as neon, which is charged and discharged using a pair ofcapacitors in order to produce electrical sparks between the glass bulband the user's skin in order to create ozone. It is admitted in U.S.Pat. No. 5,866,082 that the exposed portion of the glass bulb is likelyto break. The invention is the isolation of electrically live componentsso that the user cannot come into contact with those components evenwhen the bulb is broken. When the bulb breaks, the neon gas escapes, andthe bulb is no longer able to conduct electrical energy in order toproduce a spark.

[0004] Clearly, it would be better if an ozone-producing apparatus couldbe provided in which the bulb did not break at all.

[0005] In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, thereis provided apparatus for producing ozone gas for use in the beautytreatment of skin, comprising a sealed vessel containing a gas and meansfor supplying to the vessel a potential difference, thereby causing thegas to become charged, whereby placing the vessel close to the skin of auser causes the charged gas to discharge by creating an electrical sparkwhich jumps between the vessel and the skin, the spark resulting in theproduction of ozone gas in the vicinity of the skin, wherein theapparatus additionally comprises a guard for the vessel to protect thevessel from breakage, the guard having apertures therein to permit thevessel to discharge to the skin of the user.

[0006] The technical advantage of the present invention is that theguard protects the vessel (which is preferable made from glass) fromimpact whilst not preventing normal functioning of the apparatus.

[0007] Preferably, the outer surface of the guard is a constant distancefrom the bulb, most preferably from 1-2 mm, such that the skin of theuser is kept a constant distance from the bulb when it contacts any partof the guard. This results in a constant effect of the device upon theuser's skin.

[0008] The guard is preferably formed from an electrical insulator suchas a plastics material.

[0009] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now bedescribed, with reference to the drawings, in which:

[0010]FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram, in partial cross section, ofozone-producing apparatus in accordance with the invention.

[0011] The apparatus comprises housing A and hand-held pen B, which canbe operated in the vicinity of the user's skin and from which the ozoneis produced.

[0012] Pen B comprises gas bulb 1 which is a sealed unit containing neongas. Part of bulb 1 emerges from the housing of pen B, and this exposedpart is protected by plastic gas bulb guard 1 a, which partially coversbulb 1 but which has holes therein (not shown) to allow sparks toemanate from bulb 1 and contact the user's skin. The arrangement ofguard la is such that it prevents bulb 1 from getting closer than 2 mmfrom the user's skin. It will be understood that this distance can beadjusted based on the spacing of guard 1 a around bulb 1 when guard 1 ais constructed.

[0013] Bulb 1 is electrically connected to a self coupling high voltagetransformer 2, which is itself connected to electrical pulse producer 9in housing A by means of DC spring coil cable 4. Cable 4 connects pen Bto housing A via connecting jack 3, and can be stored in cable recess 13when not in use. Pulse producer 9 is powered either by rechargeablebatteries 8 or by external power via DC jack 7. LED indicator 5 providesinformation about the functioning of the apparatus, as will be describedbelow.

[0014] The functioning of the apparatus is controlled by means ofcontrol device 6. This consists of two different control means. Thefirst is an intensity control, which adjusts the output frequency of thepulse producer in order to control the maximum and minimum intensitiesof ozone released from bulb 1. The second comprises a timer controlwhich allows the user to produce ozone constantly for a predeterminedtreatment time of between 1 and 5 minutes. When the time has elapsed,the apparatus shuts down automatically.

[0015] Mirror 12 is adjustable on hinge 10 to allow the user to see theregion of skin which is being treated (such as the face).

[0016] In operation, pulse producer 9 generates a pulse type constantvoltage with a peak value of at least 100 volts and an oscillationfrequency and pulse width of approximately 200 Hz and 50 microsecondsrespectively. This pulse voltage is applied to self-coupling highvoltage transformer 2 along DC spring coil cable 4. Transformer 2 booststhe supplied pulse voltage in order to produce a high frequency andbi-polar pulsing high voltage with a peak value of at least 9000 voltsand a frequency of approximately 250 kHz. This voltage is applied to gasbulb 1 by means of an electrode connecting transformer 2 and gas bulb 1.The result is ignition of the neon gas inside the bulb to become aconductive gas.

[0017] In order to treat the user, pen B is brought close to the skin ofthe user until gas bulb guard 1 a contacts the skin. This means thatbulb 1 comes within 2 mm from the user's skin. Because the user's skinis at an earth potential with respect to gas bulb 1, gas bulb 1discharges into the user's skin by means of a so-called “corona” effect.Electrons present in the gap between gas bulb 1 and the skin areaccelerated by means of an electron avalanching effect. Oxygen moleculesin the air which come into contact with the accelerating electrons areionised to generate ozone in the vicinity of the user's skin by means ofa chain reaction. The holes in guard 1 a allow sparks and ozonemolecules to impinge upon the user's skin even when guard 1 a is incontact with the skin. Clearly, the number and position of the holes canbe varied in order to control the intensity of effect.

[0018] In order to keep a constant ozone generation, pulse producer 9generates a constant output voltage which is boosted continually byself-coupling transformer 2.

[0019] LED indicator 5 is a bi-colour LED which can glow one colour toshow that the apparatus is functioning correctly, and another colour toshow that rechargeable batteries 8 are being charged.

1. Apparatus for producing ozone gas for use in the beauty treatment ofskin, comprising a sealed vessel containing a gas and means forsupplying to the vessel a potential difference, thereby causing the gasto become charged, whereby placing the vessel close to the skin of auser causes the charged gas to discharge by creating an electrical sparkwhich jumps between the vessel and the skin, the spark resulting in theproduction of ozone gas in the vicinity of the skin, the apparatusadditionally comprising a guard for the vessel to protect the vesselfrom breakage, the guard having apertures therein to permit the vesselto discharge to the skin of the user wherein the guard is formed from anelectrical insulator and wherein the outer surface of the guard is aconstant distance from the bulb, such that the skin of the user is aconstant distance from the bulb when it contacts any part of the guard.2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said distance is from 1-2mm.